Semtech's SX1272 RFIC drives IoT, M2M deployments

Semtech Corp.
introduced the SX1272, the first product in a new
long-range RFIC platform that boosts the transmission range of the devices to
up to 15 kilometers (km).

This device
integrates Semtech’s new LoRa (long range) modulation technology to enable
drastic range improvements over alternative modulation methods. The
maximum distance today of a smart meter transceiver in Europe utilizing FSK modulation is between
one and two kilometers. The SX1272, utilizing LoRa operating under the
same conditions and regulatory limits, can transmit more than 15 km.

The SX1272
is designed for industrial control, agriculture/irrigation, smart metering and
sensor network applications. The additional range provided by LoRa will
eliminate the need for repeaters in these applications, significantly
simplifying the system design and lowering the total cost of deployment.
The range extension provided by LoRa also makes the device ideal for emerging
smart city, Internet of things (IOT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.

The SX1272
achieves receiver sensitivity up to -137 dBm utilizing a low-cost
crystal. This compares to today’s state-of-the-art FSK devices that can
achieve sensitivity of -115 dBm with a comparable crystal or -125 using an
expensive temperature controlled crystal oscillator (TCXO).

Additionally,
the SX1272 has a 25 dB improvement over FSK devices for rejecting in-band
interfering signals. This makes the device especially effective in
industrial, scientific and medical (ISM)-band applications such as security and
metering because it provides immunity from sub-GHz frequency 4G/LTE signals.

The SX1272
supports GFSK, FSK, GMSK, and OOK modulation in addition to LoRa and is
designed to support WMBus, IEEE 802.15.4g (SUN), FCC 15.247, ARIB T96/108, EN
300-220 as well as other worldwide standards and regulations.

The SX1272
(order code: SX1272IMLTRT) is available immediately in production quantities.
Semtech offers comprehensive design assistance, including field- and
factory-based support. Data sheets, volume pricing, and delivery quotes, as
well as evaluation kits and samples, are available at www.semtech.com/info.

I'm curious as to what this mysterious LoRa modulation scheme looks like. Apparently it uses spread spectrum techniques, which sounds good, as it's secure and highly immune to interference, but has anyone really evaluated it yet? How does the modulation scheme work?